Korean Job Discussion Forums

[I_Am_Wrong]

anybody here taken any tae kwon do in Korea? I've been thinking about it. Just wondering if anyone might be able to share their experience.

[HamuHamu]

I did, when I first arrived.

I only lasted 6 weeks

Classes were from 9:00pm - 10:30pm Monday - Friday. For me that meant racing home from work, making something to eat and shoving it in fast, changing and running to the do-jang. 10:30pm comes, class is finished and as the last class our job was to clean the place....sweeping, vaccuming, etc. I had no problem with that, in fact I think that the idea that the people who belong to the group have some responsibility for maintaining the facility is great. But, for me it meant not getting home until shortly after 11pm, EVERY NIGHT of the week. It meant that TKD had to become my entire life. And because I didn't come to Korea specifically to learn and study TKD, it took a lot of motivation.

I never went on Fridays, and at least one other day of the week I was just toooooo tired. Any time you missed a class, you were "punished" by having to start the next class you came to with 100 sit ups and 100 push ups. If I missed a Friday and a Monday, it really made me not want to go on Tuesday, to start out with 200 sit ups and 200 push ups....

Aside from all of that....it was fun. NO one else there, including the intructor, spoke English, so it was difficult and frustrating sometimes, but on the whole I found the group (all adults) pretty easy-going and we learned to laugh together when I totally messed up from not understanding. They were all pretty helpful at trying to correct my mistakes and at double checking that I understood.

And I was surprised to learn that there was no such thing as a class of beginners (at least at the school I went to). It was done by age - so I was with the adults, who had varying levels, some green belts, some red belts, some browns and a few black belts, all in the same class. I was the only beginner. We were all expected to do the same things, occassionally people were paired with someone closer to their level for activities but it was mostly drills, and everyone was just perfecting them to different degrees. What was really interesting to me is that it seemed to be not just the instructor's responsibility to teach, but everyone assisted and helped out anyone who was lower.....sometimes the instructor would notice I needed help with a certain kick, and he would ask someone higher than me to take me aside and help me practice in front of the mirror. I found it all really friendly, welcoming and full of comraderie.

I just wish I could have found a class that was 3 mights a week, for one hour...I like to pretend that I would have stuck with it for longer...

[klaasb]

Not taekwon-do but hapkido, that's why I came here in the first place

http://www.sangmookwan.com/

[the_beaver]

[I_Am_Wrong]

whoa! 5 times a week. I'm looking for something that's just a couple times a week and maybe an instructor who knows some english...call me a dreamer I s'pose.

[the_beaver]

[Cedar]

Hapkido for eight years.
Taekkyon for six years.

Why learn in English? Hearing "again" 500 times teaches you the Korean word, you know!

Besides, you can visually follow along.

Taekwondo... I'd advise against if you are older or have any joint issues... it's very hard on your joints.

[trigger123]

From my own experience I can definitely recommend studying tae kwon do. I'm at my second school now, after training for around 18 months, (almost!) 5 nights a week, and both schools are very different in their approach.
My first Sah Bom Nim (Master) emphasised the spiritual side of tkd, which was cool (meditations, fighting patterns studied sloowly, like tai chi). While the new guy gets the stereo on as we kick the heavy pads to his hip-hop collection...!
The 5-day attendance thing can be a problem though. Many masters encourage you to attend 5 days a week but you can negotiate. Many high schoolers and uni students skip from time to time so its possible to get time off.
TKD is also a major part of Korean culture, and yes the language problem can be a difficult. But as a teacher I sometimes use TPR (total physical response), so associating new vocab with movements can really speed up the learning process.
But whether its the improvement in physical fitness, flexibilty, co-ordination or confidence, I think there are benefits for pretty much everyone. After giving so much at school, I found it really good to learn something for myself. But most of all its alot of fun!
And I have my Black Belt test next month in Suwon... wish me luck!

[klaasb]

taekwondo...black belt test......

did you pay the fee?

Yes?

You'll get the belt, trust me

Want to be able to speak a bit of English? Come to us
If you can only come 3 or 2 times a week, that's okay, we understand

[J.B. Clamence]

I did Taekwondo for a while here. It was fun. I went 5 times a week and very rarely missed a class. Unfortunately I had to stop because of a nagging strain in my leg that made it painful for me to jump on one leg. Fortunately I had already gotten my black belt a few months earlier, so I wasn't too disappointed.

Taekwondo was actually one of the reasons I chose Korea. However, it was a bit different than how I envisioned it before arriving here. First of all, TKD at the beginner level is for kids. Everyone our age doing TKD learned it when they were kids, and are now doing advanced training in high level programs which are not suitable for beginners. So you'll be in a class with a bunch of kids basically. If you're lucky, you can find a class with high school kids who are at least the same size as you. I was toild that I was very lucky to find such a class. A lot of people I knew who wanted to do it couldn't find a school that wasn't for elementary school kids.

Another difference is that TKD here is very sport-focused. One of the main foci of TKD training in Korea is preparation of competition, known as "sport Taekwondo". It's pretty cool, but it can be very exhausting. I'm in pretty good shape, but at 29 I often had trouble keeping up with all the 18-year-olds in my class.

Also, I was often injured while doing Taekwondo. A lot of schools usually don't bother using protective equipment during sparring. The kicks don't hurt because people pull them without making much contact, but the problems arise when two people go for a kick at the same time. I often bumped knees with people, and that is not fun.

Anyways, I'm doing Kumdo now, and I actually like it much better now. It's not as aerobically exhausting, safer, and just seems pretty cool. Also, Kumdo seems to have a calmer, more meditative angle to it than TKD. My leg is probably ok now to go back to TKD, but I'm having too much fun with Kumdo at the moment.

[Yaya]

Here's an idea -- why not have an English for TKD exchange? I'm sure others have done it.

A student of mine from way back said gumdo was the best exercise he'd done compared to taekwondo or other martial arts. Not only does your upper body get a great workout, but you learn strategy and stuff. A great book to read to prepare for gumdo is the classic Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Mushashi.

By the way, I hear taekwondo might be dropped as an Olympic sport in 2012 in favor of karate and wushu.

[inkoreaforgood]

I've seen alot of TKD in this country, and I'm not impressed. I guess if you just want to say you studied a martial art in its country of origin, that's ok. I've done Kung Fu and Hapkido here though, and that stuff literally kicks ass!! Remember, "Boards don't hit back"!!!

[Paula May]

This is my second year in Korea and my third Tae Kwon Do gym. I started last year with a really good instructor, who could speak some English, but I really liked the fact the fact that his classes were well balanced and I felt that I was getting a good work out. Unfortunately, he left the gym and the new instructor was not that good. You could tell he didn't want to be there and couldn't care less about the foriengers taking his class (I was taking it with a friend of mine) because he would often leave us to drive the kiddies home, just telling us to practice drills over and over until he got back. The last straw was the day that he came back and went into his office. We were wondering what he was doing, because we weren't sure how long he wanted us to continue doing our drills, so we looked in to find him watching TV. ARRGH! Anyways, I decided to stop wasting my money with him and joined a new gym, which was much better.

My new instructor was actually in my adult class, so she could speak pretty good English, and I liked how her focus was more on technic, she really helped me to improve a lot. Plus, because she was a student of mine, I got to go for a lot less then the other students (free).

I am now at my third gym, which I am enjoying very much. It seems like each one of my instructors has a different focus when it comes to Tae Kwon Do, and this instructor is focused a lot more on the physical training, particularly with kicking and sparring, we seem to do a lot of of, which is strange for me because with my other instructors, the main focus was the pumsae forms. However, I find that with this new gym I am getting the best physical workout, which is good because the main reason I joined was to get into a regular workout routine. It's good to take a class with a friend who is a fellow foreigner, so you can have someone help you along and partner up with you. I like going five nights a week, its fun and its something that I enjoy very much, not just as a workout but also as part of Korean culture.

[Swiss James]

Has anyone done any of this stuff around the Hongdae area? Know the times that most classes are held at?

As with most things I'd like to do here, the main problem is time (and laziness I suppose)- but it sounds like a good way to get a regular workout and more interesting than the gym..

[J.B. Clamence]